LW: Here we are, time for a different kind of jailbreak. And the main plot begins to unfold.
Rubber King and Mirror Master - New World Chaos : Pirates Know Best! Get Out of the Tower!
Ryugu Palace - Hard Shell Tower
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Shirahoshi squeals gleefully "You're actually here, in my room, and it's not even my birthday" she chirps to the pirate's confusion.
"What the He…." Luffy begins before both guys are pulled into a hug by the Starstruck royal, even Kaos's long and lanky frame swallowed up by the nearly 40ft mermaid's tidal wave of bosom, bouncing and wobbling to and fro, as she hugs the 2 notorious pirates like they were toys, before finally dropping them unsteadily to her bed.
"That was unexpected" Kaos actually giggles, his pale cheeks a deep pink.
"Yeah, that sure wasn't on my list of reactions to meeting a princess" Luffy nods.
"I'm sorry this is so embarrassing" Shirahoshi whines, covering her face in her hands "I'm just a big fan, so meeting you in person is kind of amazing"
"A really big fan" Luffy blurts out "Wait, how did you know about us, you seem kind of sheltered in this prison cell tower of yours?" Luffy asks curiously.
"Oh, Megalos brought me a Den Den for when I get bored of reading. I, I saw Marineford. Risking everything to save your family, it spoke to me" Shirahoshi explains, beginning to tear up as she does "So what's being a pirate like? How big's your crew? I heard you kidnapped a princess. Is that true? Are you going to kidnap me? Is it really kidnapping if I ask you to do it? Who's the strongest in the cre…"
"Run that last one back to me" Kaos asks.
"Who's the strongest?" Shirahoshi repeats.
"Kaos. Also, I think he meant the one before that" Luffy answers, despite the annoyed look in the taller man's eyes, but Luffy knew his strength, as well as the fact his older brothers were both stronger than him.
"Does it count as kidnapping if they ask you to?" the mermaid asks.
"Technically yes, especially if your father found out" Kaos answers "Any others?"
"Did you really blow up the Capital of Alabasta? The papers said you did, but I don't think the princess would be so nice to you if that was the case? Also, this guy in a cool hat turned someone inside out, did that happen too?"
"Crocodile tried to blow up the capital, I kicked his ass while Kaos and Pell dealt with the bomb" Luffy explains "Don't know about hat guy though"
"I'm impressed you remembered his name" Kaos chuckles.
"He was the bird guy and one of Vivi's friends and guardians, of course I remember" Luffy huffs "anything else?"
"Whitebeard. Is he a bad guy? He protected our kingdom for longer than I've been alive, but they say he's done so many bad things" the princess bites her lip.
Kaos sighs deeply "Whitebeard is first and foremost, a father, and then a pirate. Marineford was the navy taking one of his kids, parading them for all the world to see and shouting that they were going to kill him there and then. You can see why he, with the help of every pirate he could get in touch with, fucking leveled the place. I bet if something happened to you, your dad would kill to protect you, despite being kind of a goof" he winks, as something bubbles in the back of his mind.
"Yeah, Jinbe and Ace said Whitebeard went kind of nuts when Kaos nearly died, I don't know I'd kind of passed out by that point" Luffy mutters, rubbing the back of his head.
'You're not bowing out just yet kid, the Maelstrom's just starting to pick up ssssspeed. Zesesesese!'
"Now, why did you want us to kidnap you, most people tend to not ask complete strangers that, even if you've been inducted into our fanclub" Kaos asks.
Shirahoshi gasps "How did you know about that? I mean, never mind. I want to leave the palace and see the world, I want to be free from this tower. I'm the age of maturity in my own kingdom, but Daddy still sees me as just a little minnow" the princess shared with them, tail shifting under her so she was essentially kneeling over them.
"Given the only thing bigger than you in this palace is HIM, I highly doubt he's that unobservant" Luffy states "You're not a little girl anymore, so whatever is keeping you in here, you should be allowed to stand up and face, or at least be able to help deal with rather than hide in this cage of a tower for the rest of your life. By the way, what are you hiding from anyway?"
Whoop whoop whoop whoop
"The hell is that?" Luffy hums, turning around just as a battleaxe flies in through the open doorway "oh crap, that's not supposed to happen"
"I'm beginning to see why she lives in an armoury" Kaos winces, just before Luffy kicks at the flying weapon, only for the handle to snap clean off and the blade to continue flying "Shit. Ok, guess we're doing it this way. Entrapment!" he cries, unleashing a surge of silver gloop, which swallows up the axehead "Liberation" he mutters, as the metal drops to the bed with barely a thump.
"That was kind of anticlimactic" Luffy mutters "Also, what the Hell was that about?"
"Reflection is a separate dimension, now more than ever before, so best guess is that fact broke the targeting of the attack, thus robbing it of its power, cutting force, and even forward motion" Kaos explains, noting the oddity of a rose painted on the side of the blade.
Meanwhile/a little while ago
"Come on already, when are we getting to this banquet he was telling us about. I don't have Luffy's endless stomach and even I'm getting hungry" Ussop mutters/complains lowly, Kaya sighs as she nods in agreement, while Carue quacks sadly.
"Hey guys, I get the feeling, the banquet we were promised…. Isn't actually happening" Nami speaks up, pointing to the soldiers all beginning to surround their bubble "Which in that case, means I apologise in advance for getting you into this mess Camie"
"Nothing to worry about Nami-chin, you were just being a good friend" the mermaid hand waves, while Papagu whines in the background about where his apology was.
"I'm sorry to detain you like this, but I'm afraid we've had distressing news, that you people are suspects in 2 ongoing investigations" one of the advisors explains as he swims over to the bubble.
"Oh come on, we've not even been here a day, and Luffy was supervised for basically all of it!" Nami whines, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What have we even been accused of?" Ussop asks.
"For one: Multiple instances of mermaid kidnapping" the minister reveals.
"That doesn't make any sense, all we did since arriving was meet Papagu and Camie, take a taxi to the rich district and then get escorted here. We didn't have time to kidnap mermaids, never mind the motive" Carue argues.
"Second, by means of Madame Shyarly's premonitions, you are accused of bringing calamity upon fishman island"
"Ok, that one has to be complete Bullshit! Fortune tellers are nothing but scam artists" Nami scoffs.
"Know that from experience Nami?" Brook asks.
"Duh, easy money conning nobles of their money by telling them they have good tidings and an excellent sex life in their future" the thief admits with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Madame Shyarly has never been wrong. Based on the charges leveled upon you, we shall be taking your entire crew into custody….. Wait a minute, weren't there 9 of you when you arrived?" the minister asks, doing a quick headcount.
Back with Shirahoshi
"That, is why I'm trapped here" she says, pointing to the rose on the axehead, then tenses as she hears the thundering of footsteps "Oh no, sorry about this" she squeaks, pulling the brothers closer to her, then adjusting her tail to hide them from view, as well as obscure the axe head with her fluke.
"Princess Shirahoshi, we heard you scream, are you ok, did something happen" the minister shouts as he enters the room.
"I'm fine, I just had a, funny dream, I was sure it was real…. But it wasn't and now I'm sad" she pouts.
"No need to worry about it princess, dreams often help you figure out where to go with your life" the minister assures her "Helps sort out wayward thoughts and the like"
"Something seems off, the door was already open when we arrived" One of the ammo knights noted.
"Maybe it was a strong current, it was open when I awoke" Shirahoshi lies as best she could, but paranoia wins out and the next shadow to grace their line of sight gets skewered. Luckily it wasn't a straw hat or a fishman, but…
"Megalo! You've returned!" Shirahoshi cheers as the shark pulls itself off the spear tips and cuddles against his mistress.
"Ah, that reminds me, I have some very dire and vexing news that must be relayed to you post haste" the minister states, stamping his spear into the ground, getting her attention "it's regarding the pirate that saved Megalo, the one known as Straw Hat Luffy" he begins, not seeing the princess' eyes flick down to the bend in her tail due to the shark in his way, nor the look of relief when both guys shrug, unsure what this old geezer had learned in the 10 minutes since they got here "Some mermaids have been kidnapped and he's our prime suspect. Also, based on a troubling prediction from Madame Shyarly, the entire Straw Hat crew are considered a risk to the kingdom itself, so we've locked them in a palace prison just to be safe" he concludes, only Kaos' hand over Luffy's mouth, and squeezing his neck stopping the rubber boy from loudly proclaiming his innocence, at least until his brain engages and he remembers people never believe pirates "we already have the swordsman in custody, having drunken himself into a state of compliance not long after arriving in the first place. 6 members of the crew have just arrived and are most likely in custody too, but that still leaves a fair few members unaccounted for. Fret not princess, we shall apprehend these potential terrorists and ensure peace reigns in this fair kingdom, on my life an honour"
GURGLE
"What was that?"
"My stomach?" Shirahoshi answers?.
"Oh right, we were meant to have a banquet before all this unpleasantness, I'll have them send food up to you momentarily" The minister salutes and leaves with the guards, then all 4 of them hear the many locks and latches click into place on the doors.
Shirahoshi exhaled sharply before shifting her tail to allow the pirates their freedom. "Sorry about that, but things are clearly not going well outside. Thank you for saving me by the way, it shows he's wrong, that you're not the bad people Miss Shyarly and the people down at the reef say you are" she states, much more confidence in her voice than when she'd been talking to the minister "Also, as I didn't know until now, thank you for saving my sweet Megalo" she chirps, once more picking up the boys and hugging them, though much less intensely and with no chance of getting lost in her clamshells.
"No problem, it was a happy accident honestly. Happy to help though" Luffy shrugs, before both brothers settle down in Shirahoshi's hands.
"By the way, I heard them say they had your friends, aren't you worried?" Shirahoshi asks.
"Not really, they don't have the manpower to actually fight our crew, they also can't count as given they don't know Carue is an official crewmate, that fish guy still thinks Kaos and I are down with the others. Shishishi" Luffy laughs, grinning widely.
"Huh, didn't know that. Why is this Carue not official though?" Shirahoshi asks curiously.
"Because she's his wife's duck, or was just a duck when we got separated. She ate a Human fruit like our Doctor, and now she's a transforming angel duck" Kaos explains "But obviously nobody's seen her do so and we've been busy for 2 years so no new bounties have been given, so she's still an unknown to most people. I'm sure Jimmy will snap a pic eventually to rectify that" he adds with a shrug.
"Ah, I see. I hope to meet this Carue and Luffy's wife"
"Wives. Vivi and Alvida" Luffy corrects, then gets shot up to eye level with the mermaid.
"Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta!?" she shrieks.
"Yep" Luffy grins, while the princess just stares in shock "By the way, what's with the axe, people don't usually try to kill the royal family given how well-liked you guys seem to be, so this is kind of a big deal. Is the rose a signature like a Jolly Roger?" Luffy asks.
"Kind of. The rose is clearly him trying to tell me it's him, like the fact the weapon homes in on me wasn't obvious enough. His name, is Vander Decken, and he's a pirate"
"Yeah, we heard about him from Camie" Kaos nods.
"He's the, um 8th or 9th one, right?" Luffy asks.
"9th" Kaos replies "Sorry to interrupt"
"No worries. Anyway, he wanted to marry me, but I refused, so now he's trying to kill me. It's why I have to live here in this tower, otherwise, one of those weapons will strike true, and cut me down. You see, he ate the Mato Mato no mi, and he used it to mark me. Now any weapon he throws will seek me out, no matter the distance or direction" she explains.
GURGLE
"Damn it Luffy, this isn't the time" Kaos growls as he facepalms.
"Well excuse me for being hungry! Now, are we going to beat up this Vender Deckham guy or not?".
"Um, if you want food, I have some" Shirahoshi offers, getting an eager nod from Luffy, and a more respectful one from Kaos.
"See, I told you I smelt food, and you doubted me!" Luffy huffs.
"You did crashland on mermaid boobs, so your sense of direction isn't exactly worth boasting about" Kaos deadpans as Luffy bounces onto a giant bread roll and starts to chow down.
"So, this Vander dick wants to marry you, but also kill you, pick a lane buddy jeez!" Luffy groans around his meal, Kaos nodding from another plate.
"Well it's been 12 years and he's still at it, so it seems he's still unsure which he wants from me" Shirahoshi admits, almost humorously.
"12 years, no wonder you found us so interesting, you had nothing else to do than read about our exploits" Kaos winces after he says that, surprised by the nod.
"Yeah, basically. Even Barty's talks don't help, even if he too agrees you guys are awesome pirates. Without the papers, Den Den Mushi and Megalo, who knows what I'd have done by now. Plus Father made a rule that people can't visit for more than 5 minutes, which is, honestly kind of annoying"
"Yeah, that sucks" Luffy nods, then pauses in his eating as a lightbulb goes off "Hey princess, how old are you?"
"18, the age of maturity in the Ryugu Kingdom, why?" Shirahoshi asks.
"Because that means you were 6 when Vander tried to marry you" Kaos scowls.
"Is that a bad thing?" the princess asks with a head tilt "A lot of royals get engaged or betrothed at a young age, or so I've heard"
"No, it just means I'm planting my fist in his face if we ever do meet" Kaos shrugs as he tears into what he believes is Seaking meat "So maybe lighter topics for a while, got any more questions princess?"
"Actually yes, what's it like, to see the stars, or feel the sun on your face?" Shirahoshi asks with a faraway smile "Oh, and I bet you've seen all kinds of animals and flowers too, right?"
It's hard to really describe, the sun and the stars, they're something that's always been there all our lives, it just… is. It's like asking you what it's like to live under the ocean, it's all you've ever known, so it's hard to put into words" Kaos admits.
"It's neat, but not when it gets too hot or too cold, loads of animals, like dinosaurs and a hiking bear. Nami grows tangerines on the ship, and I think Ussop uses some of the garden space for plants to make his stars" Luffy answers her as bluntly as always between mouthfuls of food.
"What about the Green Place, I think it's called a forrust?" she continues.
"We basically grew up in one, so yes" Kaos nods.
"That sounds so cool!" she cheers, but resists the urge to grab them and cuddle the pirates like teddy bears again. She's strong, she can do this…. Hopefully.
"Hey, since you want to see the outside so much…. Why don't we give you a peek" Luffy grins, now he's finally full, for now at least.
"Luffy" Kaos hisses, even without haki knowing this wasn't going to end well, though can't resist how cute Shirahoshi looks as her eyes sparkle and her tail perks up like an excited puppy.
"You mean it? That would be great, nobody's ever offered to show me the outside before. If you weren't already my favourite outsiders this would make you for sure!" she cheers, swaying and jiggling as she celebrates.
"Ok ,ok. Calm down already jeez. First, we need to break the door down, and then we need to get out of the palace" Luffy declares, and as the gravity of the situation Shirahoshi begins to get doubts.
"Outside, where HE is" she mutters, arms crossed over her chest.
"Yeah, and if he throws something else, I'll break it or Kaos will eat it with his mystery slime" Luffy argues, ignoring the punch to the back of the head, as it was clear his brother agreed, but as usual his wording or method needed much to be desired. Oh well. Plus the look on Shirahoshi's face showed it worked as intended regardless of tact.
Back with the others
"If I didn't know how intense your training was, I wouldn't believe what I'm seeing qu-ang" Carue honks as she watches the rest of the crew actually take out Fishmen soldiers with little trouble, and given besides Brook, the other 3 were OG Straw hats from the East blue and struggled to take out a single Fishman back in the day… the results were both frightening, and impressive.
"Get a hold of yourself, it's just 4 humans, nothing trained fishmen should have to break a sweat to capture" the minister scolds.
"Please stop this, you'll be criminals if you continue to resist like this" Camie frets.
"We're already criminals Camie, that's what being a pirate means after all" Kaya argues, her syrup tendrils good for crowd control with these minor guards.
"Plus, and more importantly, they have no reason to lock us up, ravings of a soothsayer and suspicion of kidnappings we weren't even present to commit. Paper thin at best" Brook scoffs.
"They can't seriously think they can take us all on at once. Just how strong are these pirates?" was heard somewhere in the crowd.
"See, this is the prelude to the fallout Madame Shyarly foresaw, these pirates will bring about the end of our kingdom!" the minister bellows.
"Then like always, prophecies are self-fulfilling. All we were here to do was enjoy some good food, and then leave, but you attacked us, and we defended ourselves. If this dominos out to the destruction of the Palace, or even the entire kingdom, well, you only have yourself to blame" Nami argues, stamping her climatact against the ground.
"The girl makes a good point" Neptune mutters to himself.
"Well since peace talks were never on the table in the first place, maybe I should break in my new weapon, forged in the bug and food-loaded terror of the Boeg Archipelago, the Black Kabuto!" Ussop hypes up, grinning widely as he prepares his new slingshot.
The minister panics "Please your highness, we need your assistance!"
"Hm, is it really moral to arrest or even apprehend someone based solely on a prediction that they MAY commit a crime? I need time to contemplate this deep conundrum. Plus, Straw Hat and Mirror Demon having slipped away concerns me more at this moment. Newgate says his boy is good but with all the press, it's hard to believe him" the King admits with a sigh.
"Oh don't worry about it, Kaos ain't one of those 'Hide your wife, hide your kids' kind of pirates" Nami tries to assure him.
"Though I do wonder about that scream earlier" Papagu muses, reminding everyone.
"THE PRINCESS! That bastard lays a hand on my baby girl I'll tear out his innards and let him drown!" Neptune declares with anger only a parent could unleash "In the meantime, I still have your fates to decide, and until I make a decision, you will all have to wait, in custody" Neptune swings his trident before thrusting it at the straw hats, only for it to be blocked by Zoro with minimal effort.
"Zoro! You're here?" Kaya yelps "But, they said they locked you up"
"They did, but I heard you guys were having fun without me, so I decided to stop by" the swordsman smirks "Good thing too, that might have hurt"
"Oh no!" the seahorse-looking minister gasps "How did he manage to escape his jail cell so quickly? He was out cold from the booze when we last checked on him" he wonders aloud as Zoro breaks the lock between himself and Neptune, sliding into the air bubble alongside the rest of the crew.
"How? He's just a mere human, yet he was able to block an attack from King Neptune himself" the monocled advisor stammers in shock.
"If you resist then both sides will suffer casualties, it would be noble for you to surrender Zoro" Neptune argues.
"Pirate, therefore my first instinct isn't to be noble, especially when I'm fairly sure I can take all these fodder myself. Also, wouldn't it be more noble for a king NOT to throw his men into a meat grinder?" the swordsman counters.
"You idiots, just pierce the bubble already!" Seahorse bellows.
"But why?" the other advisor asks in confusion.
"Because we fishmen obviously will have the advantage in undersea combat. In addition, they're all humans, they need to breathe air, unlike us, so they'll soon fall even if none of us were to land a hit on them" he explains "Now line up, and strike!"
"Well, this looks like we're about to have a very bad day. Anyone got a plan?" Brook asks "Anyone?"
Puff puff puff puff
"What! These criminals have drained the water from the central chamber!" Seahorse cries as an air bubble fills the entire area.
"Sorry, couldn't resist when I saw this XXXL-sized piece of bubbly coral, given the size of the bubble a pocket-sized one made, it seemed like the best option to protect ourselves from the aquatic type" Nami grins, patting the coral larger than her entire body like it was a loyal pet, the rest of the crew impressed by her quick thinking, confused by why it was there in the first place, and now worried about where the fight was going to go from here.
"So, care for round 2?" Zoro grins, eager to test his blades against a skilled opponent, why not the King of the Merfolk?
"Destroy them men!" Seahorse cries, only to be countermanded.
"Lower your weapons, I shall fight him myself" Neptune orders
"No Sire, I can't allow you to engag…"
"Did I stutter?" Neptune asks.
"No Sire"
"No sire, that's right. Who is the King here? Me. Therefore if the enemy is knocking at my door, I can choose to fight them or not, NOT YOU" the giant of a merman scowls through his thick beard, the seahorse near instantly cowed. Neptune gives his trident a whirl before thrusting at Zoro who hadn't left the spot he landed, though he did unsheath Shusui once more.
Back with Shirahoshi
"I, really don't like this plan" Kaos huffs, as he looks from Shirahoshi's hopeful gaze, to Luffy's eager grin.
"Come on, it's just like the mall and the axe, just something EVEN bigger" Luffy argues.
"Plus, you managed to fit me inside you, what's a princess after that?" Lily pipes in unhelpfully, Kaos grimacing as she manifested through his flesh rather than a reflection this time.
"That was different and you know it. Even as an awakening, my material was a tether and a lock while you were absorbed into the Familiar tattoo, not an actual holding area" he scowls at the giggling little flower, which now also caught Luffy and Shirahoshi's attention "Right, this is Lily, my familiar that I acquired accidentally while she was trying to kill me"
"I wanted to make him suffer for what his bitch of a mother did to me, but in the end, rather than torture or death, for him or myself, I found a new friend and master" Lily grins in an almost mockery of a D, before sinking back into her own corner of his Reflection Hammerspace/pocket dimension
Kaos sighs, before removing his cloak and stretching "So, we're actually doing this, which means I'm going to need more space. Here we go" he mutters before transforming into his hybrid zoan form, Luffy noticing the process was a lot smoother than it had previously, either due to practice or the other fruit's awakening, who knows, as well as the fact that Kaos was even larger than Sandersonia or Marigold in their hybrid forms. It still made him only a little over half Shirahoshi's total height, so she still found him kind of adorable.
"So, um, what now?" she asks nervously, and given what happened next had every right to.
"Infinite Reflections Cascade: Consumption!" Kaos intones in lieu of answering, his body melting into an almost liquid state of silver goo, before crashing upon the giantess like a wave
Back in the main palace
"Well, that was easy. Though where Nami found chains to tie up a Merman as big as Neptune I will never know" Carue hums as she adjusts her hat with a wing.
"You didn't need to be so rough with them Zoro!" Ussop scolds.
"They were just doing their jobs!" Brook adds.
"Their job, was to arrest us, and they attacked us first, I simply used enough force to deal with the situation, not like anyone died" Zoro huffs as he resheathes his swords.
"I'm surrounded by idiots, which isn't exactly news but still a pain in the ass to admit. Hey dumbasses, any idea how we're going to find Luffy or Kaos in this place?" Nami shouts over the bickering trio.
"No, Special K's the one with the Devil Fruit detector in his brain, so that's out" Zoro sighs.
"Funnily enough Artemis said the same thing when we arrived here" Kaya hums "All we know is they'll most likely be in a dry section of the palace, double dipping seems to have increased Kaos' sensitivity and weakness to water" she adds in a worried tone.
"And food, given he most likely followed Luffy to wherever they went rather than wandered off on his own" Ussop adds now he stops to think.
"Still a big ask, finding 2 people in an entire palace" Carue sighs and drops her head.
"Hey you criminals! It's only a matter of time before Neptune's sons Fukboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi return, and once they do, you'll all be sorry!" Left minister bellows/threatens.
"So, you're saying we're already screwed, so we should just kill everyone" Zoro summarises, slamming his fist into his palm.
"NO YOU IDIOT!" Nami screams, punching him in the back of the head.
"Did Kaos leave his murder boners with you when he left or something, that doesn't even make sense" Ussop whines and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"How about we just find everyone, locate the Sunny, and leave?" Kaya suggests, fingers twitching as she frets.
"Simple plan, but even if we knew where everyone was, the Sunny lost its coating when we got here, and the Log Pose is spinning like crazy, so there's no way for us to even know which way to go besides up!" Nami complains.
"You can't be serious, can you?" the bearded minister asks with a defeated sigh, how had their best soldiers been defeated by these….. Imbeciles? "If you believe a primitive pose like that will get you through the New World, then you're even dumber than you look" he sneers….. And promptly gets punched in the face for his comments.
"So, it's Reverse Mountain all over again" Ussop whines "Blue sea compasses don't work in the Grand Line, a Log Pose only works in Paradise, just great why does nobody tell us this crap ahead of time?" the sniper explodes.
Ding Dong Ding
"Huh, I didn't know Den Den Mushi made that noise" Carue notes, drawing attention to the snail sitting on the table behind her
"That must be the princes right now" the minister states smugly, until Zoro walks over and answers it.
"Who's this, what do you want?" he asks with the bluntness expected of their Captain.
"What are you doing? Hang up!" Ussop whisper shouts
"Prince Fukaboshi, we've been captured by these human ruffians! HELP!"
"SHUT UP! Trying to have a call over here" Zoro shouts "Anyway, continue"
"You should know who we are, it's the 3 princes of Ryugu Kingdom, returned from below. Who am I speaking to?" Fukaboshi asks over the snail "Open the gate and grant us passage, that is an order from the heir of the kingdom"
"You ain't my king, so I don't really care about your threats" Zoro responds, to the annoyance of basically everyone in the room, the ammo knights pleading for rescue while Camie and Papagu ask to be tied up so they don't get blamed for the Straw Hat's…. Antics.
"So tell me, as you a member of the Straw Hat pirates?" Fukaboshi enquiries
"You are correct my son, the man you're speaking to is their swordsman, Pirate Hunter Zolo" Neptune answers.
"ZORO!"
"That was Father, is he ok?" Fukaboshi asks sharply
"He's alive, threw his back out when he tried to attack me, but other than that he's fine" Zoro answers, not seeing a reason not to, though on the other hand "Though, if you want everyone to keep breathing you'll have to run some errands for us, as from the sound of things you want us out of here just as much as we do. First, we need you to find our ship, the Sunny, and put a new coating on it, and I do mean find as we don't know where she went when we hit Fishman Island. While you're at it, rounding up the rest of our crew would help us to leave even sooner. We're missing a blond ninja and a guy who wears shades indoors, a robot guy, a red-haired barefoot artist, a gloomy lady with a toddler in her arms, a blond gremlin of a pervert, a tanuki, a woman carrying a hammer someone her size shouldn't physically be able to lift, and princess Vivi of Alabasta, thank you." Zoro demands
"And 1 million beris in unmarked bills" Nami suggests, getting lightly head slapped by Kaya and Carue
Fukaboshi's sigh is heard even through the snail "Fine, I accept your conditions. As long as you promise no harm will come to my father while I perform these tasks and arrange for your crew to smoothly leave Fishman Island"
"I ain't gonna do anything to him, as long as he doesn't start trying to escape or anything he won't even have rope burn…. Oh wait he's the one wrapped in chains, can you even get chain burn?" the swordsman thinks aloud "Eh, not important, either way, we'll keep our end of the bargain, as long as you do. We have an accord" Zoro agrees, letting the snail go back to sleep "Well, as clusterfucks go I think we handled that rather well".
Hard Shell Tower
"You look pregnant" Luffy states bluntly as Kaos reforms, getting what he assumed to be a faceless scowl from the still half-solid mass "Though I suppose this isn't the first time you've had a girl inside you shishishi"
"And the princess likes to get railed in the ass, any other comments than pointing out the walls are too thin?" Kaos sighs as his body clicks back into place, though his hair was matted and his skin still looked clammy, before making a gesture Luffy was sure he stole from Valentina before asking "Are you ok Shirahoshi? Now is probably a bad time to mention I've not done this with a living person before"
"I'm fine, going inside was kind of weird, but it's warm and actually kind of cosy in here" she admits, the trio hearing her perfectly "I've actually never been inside someone before due to my size" she adds.
"Is she old enough to make those kinds of innuendos?" Luffy stage whispers
"Remember the nobles of Goa, kinky bastards the lot of them, and not all in the fun way" Kaos retorts "Wealth and power gives you the means for degeneracy"
"My dark knight, holding me so tenderly, so, intimately, oh, he'll have to, take responsibility Heiheihei" both pirates flush as the princess's mutters are picked up
"Be careful what you wish for Hoshi, Robin said the same thing when she joined the crew and now she's a mother of 2" Luffy warns, causing Kaos to wince as Shirahoshi panics within the reflection hammerspace.
"Not helping!" Kaos shouts, then contorts Hebi so she forms a cane sword "I've not tried to absorb something Shirahoshi's size before, it's putting my fruit under a lot of pressure. The less wriggling she does, and the less fighting we have to do to get out of here, the better. Understand?"
"Nope" Luffy grins, before Shirahoshi decides to contribute to the conversation.
"Um, Megalo could transport you, both of you even. He's definitely large enough to do some without issue, at least give it a try"
"You heard her Kaos, get in the shark!" Luffy playful orders, Kaos flipping him off, even as he limps over to the confused, but eager-to-help, giant shark.
BANG
BANG
BANG
"Oh, what now?" both pirates groan, one having slid into Megalo's mouth during the interruption.
Elsewhere in the palace
"That doesn't sound good" Ussop grimaces as they hear the banging even from down here.
"No, what horrific timing. Vander Decken must be attacking the Hard Shell Tower. My daughter is in danger, tell me quickly who is with her right now?" Neptune panics and then demands.
"Unfortunately Sir, all the guards are here right now and tied up" one of the guards responds.
"This is an OUTRAGE. Pirates, I have one request and will then be a compliant prisoner, please someone go check on and protect my little girl" Neptune pleads.
"We have to do what now?" Zoro groans, while the others notice the Beris flash in Nami's eyes.
"No sire, you can't trust the princess's safety to these pirates, look what they did to the rest of us" Seahorse minister argues.
"I have to, they're her only hope" Neptune argues "The Hard Shell Tower is on the North East corner of the palace, please, you have to hurry there immediately" the king begs.
"Knowing this crew's luck, Kaos or Luffy are already over there" Carue groans, meanwhile Brook volunteers to rescue the princess, hoping to catch a glance of her royal tatas, and brought the seahorse along with him as a guide.
"Probably, in which case, she's already been rescued and Brook will just be there to help lead those 2 dumbasses back to the main lobby" Nami agrees, sitting down by the table "All we can do is wait at this point I guess" she shrugs.
With Brook
"What the Hell? That wasn't weapons like usual, that was human pirates being thrown at the Hard Shell Tower! Disgusting" the Minister of the Right grimaces as he and Brook get within line of sight of the tower "Vander Decken really has no line he won't cross, but how could this happen, Ryugu is supposed to be impregnable?"
"Indeed, the only reason we got in was because we were invited" Brook agrees, to the Fishman's surprise "Also, those pirates aren't dead, unless you guys have zombies down here too"
"We don't. Which just makes things worse, it's not a mess to clean up, it's an invading army!" Seahorse panics.
THUMP
THUMP
"What was that?" Brook asks.
"It's coming from the Hard Shell Tower!" the Minister cries, just as with a much louder THUMP and a BANG, the doors are forced open, Megalo surging forward, Luffy riding on top with Kaos (and Shirahoshi) hidden in the sharks' closed mouth "WHAT IN THE WORLD!"
"Huh, wonder if anyone else bet on Luffy being here before me… I'll check when we get back" the skeleton muses, before more pressing matters made themselves known.
"Megalo get back here this instant! Bring that pirate to us!" Seahorse bellows, wriggling around on Brook's shoulder.
"Sounds like we missed something important out there. Probably safer wherever we're heading than the palace by the sound of things" Kaos chuckles, long nails raking across his glassy skin.
"I hope so, I really don't want to cause too much trouble for you or Father" Shirahoshi frets, her voice echoing slightly from the reflections and Megalo's innards.
"That's so unlike Megalo, he'd never just rush off like that, especially…. Skeleton, quick! Check on the princess!" the Minister orders frantically.
"Ok, ok, no need to panic too hard it's right there….. Oh crap" Brook deadpans as he peers around the door to the empty room.
"THE PRINCESS IS MISSING!" the Minister of the Right screams, so loud it's a wonder Neptune and the others didn't hear him "This is bad, Shirahoshi never leaves her room"
"Is that by choice or…. Actually, I saw how reinforced that door was, so better question: Why are you keeping her locked in a tower like some fairytale character?" Brook asks as she scans the room for anything that could help them find the princess.
"To protect her, the bombardment of pirates is just the most recent example. She's Neptune's youngest child and only daughter, the perfect target for people trying to hurt him and the kingdom. Oh, who knows how far the kidnappers have gotten with her by now?"
"Kidnappers!" Brook yelps "Are you sure she was kidnapped, she could have left on her own accord…. Though she probably would have brought Luffy and the shark for protection…. Damn it kidnapping actually sounds more likely now I think about it" the skeleton frowns, then cuts down one of the pirates who had recovered from his artillery strike and tried to backstab him or the Seahorse.
"The Gate, connecting Fishman Island, to the Ryugu Palace" one of the pirates wheezes as more get to their feet "Tell us, where the switch, to open it is, or else"
"Hey seahorse guy, do you know what they're talking about?" Brook asks in confusion.
"It's not important right now, getting back to King Neptune is!" the minister bellows.
"Ok then. Though if you're worried about these guys hurting the King, you do remember the rest of the crew that are here, besides Luffy and Kaos are all in that same room right?" Brook asks.
"We didn't want to do this but we have no choice" Another one of the intruders pants "They said if we wanted to survive we had to follow their orders".
"Please, just tell us where it is" Another begged.
"Who's orders?" Brook asks, curious, but mostly wondering who their actual enemy is.
"It doesn't matter, just tell us where the gate switch is!"
"TELL US!" they shout, as the pirates mob Brook and the Seahorse Fishman. Luckily Brook was able to cut down a few of them and began running back the way they came.
"Slow Down!"
"We're injured!"
"Hurry up skeleton, the King must be alerted to this invasion" the Minister of the Right yells as Brook scuttles.
"Please, we're begging you to bring us to that gate" the pirate at the front of the mob shouts.
"Hordy's gonna kill us all if we don't get it open!" another screams from further back "You have to"
Down below
"AHHHHH!"
"A lady's in danger! Coming beautiful!" Sanji cries as he runs through the streets, Chopper sighing as he steps over the unconscious ammo knights to follow him
"At least some things never change" the doctor grouses.
"There's a man covered in blood on the shore"
"He's from the Fishman district, what's he doing here?"
"Someone call a doctor"
"Oh, I'm a doctor" Chopper pipes in making his way through the crowds to see his future patient.
"Wait, that's Hachi!" Sanji shouts seeing the octopus fishman, his back filled with arrows "Who did this to him?"
"Wouldn't you like to know" the cook turns to see his fellow blond had spoken, Valentina's face twisted into a grimace "If Gengetsu is right, the guy had a run-in with Hody Jones, and clearly that fight ended poorly on Hachi's end" she notes as she and Victor approach the downed Fishman.
Hachi groans as he forces his eyes open "Oh, it's you guys, I'm so happy to see you after all this time" he croaks out "Is Straw Hat around?"
"Not at the moment, but we're heading to meet up with him soon" Chopper answers "Just please stop moving so I can begin treatment" the reindeer orders sternly.
"Wherever he is, find him and your friends quickly, then get the hell out of here!" Hachi shouts, grabbing Victor's sleeve and trying to heave himself at least to his knees "You don't want to get involved, believe me. Get back on your boat and leave, while you still can" he pants "Or else you'll be fighting for your lives. Hordy and Decken. You need to go, the New Fishman Pirates will start attacking the island soon, they've already started to attack the Ryugu Palace" he warns, before passing out.
Ryugu Palace
"King Neptune we have a situation!" the Minister of the Right screams as Brook throws open the doors, drawing the entire room's attention "The princess has been kidnapped. I don't know how, but they must have broken into the palace between when I last checked on her and now, and then escaped without alerting anyone else"
"Also, pirates were crashing into the tower, that was those loud banging noises from earlier" Brook adds, equally confused and frazzled "Speaking of, those guys will be here soon, so everyone get ready!"
"Kidnapped? Someone has stolen away my precious daughter, this is inconceivable. Who did it, I'll kill them with my bare hands!" Neptune bellows, going from panicked to boiling rage in about 3 seconds flat.
"Wait, you said pirates are invading the palace, and they got fired at the princess' tower?" Zoro attempts to clarify "Ok, guess I'm cutting down some goons today" he hums, hands automatically going to Shusui and Kitetsu's hilts.
"We don't need more violence!" Ussop screams.
"But maybe they'll be more lenient to us if we help stop an actual pirate attack?" Kaya suggests, only to get silence "It was good to hope" she sighs.
"If we want to get out of here alive, we need to open the gate" one of the men at the head of the mob pants, as they enter the main room.
"They're here!"
"We can see that!"
Elsewhere
"I bet they're so worried about me" Shirahoshi frets as Megalo swims casually towards town.
"You've been gone like 5 minutes, calm down and have a little fun. Why don't yah?" Luffy argues, having moved down to the shark's mouth now they were more plain sailing, the open maw ensuring they at least had some idea where they were.
"I suppose I can try. I'm, on a real adventure, with the Straw Hats…. I hope my heart can take it" Shirahoshi squeals lowly.
"If it can't I'm sure Chopper will fix you up good as new shishishi" Luffy teases, getting lightly slapped by Kaos' tail "So, this sea forest place you mentioned, what's it like? Is it pretty?"
"It's a graveyard" the princess answers, surprising both brothers "Or more, it's home to one particular grave I was never able to visit, due to being locked away. 12 years of waiting, and now my dream can come true"
"It was your mother wasn't it?" Kaos asks, face shifting into a sympathetic frown
"Yes. I, I never got to say goodbye" Shirahoshi admits, her sniffles echoing in the shark's mouth, tendrils of reflect armour and demonic vines gently wiping away her tears.
"If that's where you want to go, then that's what we'll do, you have my word" Luffy declares "You heard her shark, to the Seagarden!"
TBC
LW: And so another chapter ends. Hope it was good for you all.
Since it's coming out between this and next chapter, I hope everyone is looking forward to and going to see the live-action One Piece, because I sure am :D